In an automotive vehicle the power from the internal combustion engine is transmitted to the driving wheels of the vehicle through a power train that encompasses a variable speed transmission and differential which may be assembled into one housing. This portion of the power train is then identified as a transaxle. During the manufacture of a transaxle the bearings are selectively shimmed to accomodate the numerous manufacturing tolerances of the shafts, gears, housing, and bearings. In use one or more of these parts may fail necessitating the replacement of said part. During overhaul of the transaxle, the shims must be adjusted to allow for new variations of the replacement parts. Since the gears of the automotive transaxle, for example, are enclosed in a housing, the end play of the bearings, of necessity, is measured with the cover of the transaxle housing removed. Such measurement of the end play of the bearings in the components of the power train has been achieved by the utilization of a series of telescopic gauges each comprising an outer sleeve and a base pad in telescopic relation therewith specifically designed or dimensioned to measure the end play of the various bearings involved, for example, in the transaxle, and these gauges are used in conjunction with a series of spacers of equal length which are positioned evenly around and between the transaxle case and the cover plate to hold the cover in a predetermined position with respect to the case while the gauges are in place for measuring the end play. The length of the spacer is such that when the cover is placed on the case and the three gauges are placed on their respective bearings, each gauge would be fully collapsed if there was no end play in the bearing when the cover was placed on the case. When the gauge is fully collapsed the over all length of the gauge is the same as that of the spacer. Since there is end play in the bearing when the cover is placed on the case, then a gap will appear between the gauge outer sleeve and the base pad. This gap is the measure of the thickness of the shim that should be used to take up end play.
This prior device for selecting shims of the proper thickness to take up end play is complicated because it requires a separate gauge for each of the different bearings being measured for end play, for example, such as the input, the output, and the differential bearings in a transaxle as well as a plurality of spacers which must be accurately located between the case and the cover and are designed to hold the transaxle case and its respective cover in a predetermined spaced relation while the gauges are in place for measuring the end play.
This invention contemplates a shim selecting device comprising a bridge with supporting legs, the bridge having a central opening which receives a gauge in the form of a cylindrical sleeve. A gauging plunger or base pad, one end of which is reduced in size and inserted or telescoped in the cylindrical gauge or sleeve completes the assembly. The combined length of the gauging cylinder and gauge plunger or base pad is equal to the height of the bridge assembly from the bottom face of the legs to the top face of the bridge. The bridge is placed with its gauging surface on the mating surface of the transaxle cover and the gauge cylinder is moved into and seated on the bottom surface of the bore on which the bearing whose end play is being corrected is seated. The gauging cylinder is fixed in place by a set screw. The gauge plunger is now telescoped in the gauge cylinder. The bridge assembly is now inverted and placed with its legs on the mating surface of the transaxle housing and the gauge plunger or base pad placed in contact with the end of the bearing whose end play is being measured. The gauge plunger is now fixed in place preferably with a set screw and the gap between the adjacent ends of the gauging cylinder and gauging plunger determines the thickness of the shim necessary to take up the end play of the bearing.
The shim selector is simple in structure comprising a minimum of parts, easy to operate and accurately measures or indicates the end play or wear of the bearings in the power train transaxle.